Rondout Light

Rondout Light is a lighthouse on the west side of the Hudson River at Kingston, New York.

Rondout Creek Leading Light

Location	Hudson River at Rondout Creek, Kingston, New York
Coordinates	41°55′15″N 73°57′45″W
Year first constructed	1838
Year first lit	1915 (current tower)
Automated	1954
Foundation	Concrete pier with wood piles
Construction	Brick
Tower shape	Square tower with attached house
Markings / pattern	Yellow brick with black lantern
Tower height	48 feet (15 m)
Focal height	54 feet (16 m)
Original lens	Sixth order Fresnel lens
Current lens	9.8 inches (250 mm)
Range	9 nautical miles (17 km; 10 mi)
Characteristic	Flashing White, 6 secs
Fog signal	Horn (removed)
Admiralty number	J1139
ARLHS number	USA-702
USCG number	1-38190 [1] [2] [3]
Heritage	place listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Kingston/Rondout 2 Lighthouse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	less than one acre
Built	1915
MPS	Hudson River Lighthouses TR
NRHP reference No.	79001640 [4]
Added to NRHP	May 29, 1979

Nomenclature

• The official name in the Coast Guard Light List is Rondout Creek Leading Light.[1]
• The National Register name, Kingston/Rondout 2 Lighthouse comes from its location in a series of day beacons and lights in Rondout Creek. Number 2 is the first on the right hand side.[1]
• The USCG history site calls it Rondout Creek (Kingston) Light.[2]

History

The first lighthouse at the entrance to the Rondout Creek was a wooden one built in 1837. It was replaced by a second lighthouse, made of sturdier bluestone, in 1867. The bluestone lighthouse was abandoned after 1915 and torn down in the 1950s. Only its circular stone foundation remains today.[5]

The current lighthouse was built in 1915, replacing the earlier 1867 lighthouse. In 1954 the light was automated and the building closed.[5] The National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act provides for the Coast Guard to declare some lighthouses surplus, and for their ownership to be transferred to historical, non-profit or local government entities following an application process and review. Nine lighthouses were identified in the fall of 2001 as part of a pilot program to transfer such lighthouses. Rondout Light was one of those nine.[6] Rondout Light was transferred from the Coast Guard to the City of Kingston in 2002.[7] It is currently managed by the non-profit Hudson River Maritime Museum.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[4][8]

References

1. Light List, Volume I, Atlantic Coast, St. Croix River, Maine to Shrewsbury River, New Jersey (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 318.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: New York". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
3. Rowlett, Russ (2009-12-24). "Lighthouses of the United States: Downstate New York". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
5. "Rondout Lighthouse", Hudson River Maritime Museum
6. NHLPA 2001 Transfer Pilot Program
7. Hudson Lights
8. Elise Marie Barry (February 1979). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Kingston/Rondout 2 Lighthouse". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2010-03-20. See also: "Accompanying two photos".